There is a strong possibility of one or two more players being added to this squad as seven players is the bear (no pun intended) minimum number of player that Leadonites will travel with to such an event.

The format is as follows: -

GAME 1 @ 10:00 - Worcester Bears Vs Shrewsbury Storm

GAME 2 @ 11:00 - Shrewsbury Storm Vs Leadonites

GAME 3 @ 12:00 - Worcester Bears Vs Leadonites

(Each game will be 4x 7-minute stopping clock quarters - so a lot of basketball to be played)

Our own Kayleigh Edwards will be one of the referees... So best behaviour from everyone. I also need help getting Kayleigh to and from the venue.

If in cars we leave JMHS at 9:00am (to get Kayleigh there on time)

Match Day Subs = £3.00 each

We will be playing in our traditional white kit, so white or light coloured under-crackers required boys! ;)

Sunday, 22 October 2017

Joseph French became only the second member of the Leadonites Basketball FIFTY-UP Club when he played down an age in today's second match of the Glozball U12 CVL against Bristol Flyers at Gloucestershire College. Joseph has now played 51 matches in the white or black of his home town club and joins his best friend, Samuele Miccio, as the only two players in this most exclusive of clubs.

Joseph's first match for Leadonites came at the same venue when he played up an age for the Under 12s against Worcester Wolves Cubs (U11s) on the 14th November 2015 in a 42-10 victory. With more fouls than points to his name Joe's first basket for the club didn't come until the 12th March 2016 again against Worcester Wolves Cubs, an incredible 9 matches into his Leadonites career; all that and his mother missed it! Never mind, Joseph scored his second ever basket just two minutes later and this time mum was paying attention.Joe now holds the most Leadonites appearances record with 51 in total. The last coming in the Under 12s victory over a very young Worcester Bears team. A game in which Joe was also team captain.Coach Chalkley's comments: Joe doesn't score many baskets but then his main job on court is making sure that the opposition don't either. Every team needs a 'Joe' in their squad; the sort of player that willingly does all the jobs that others shy away from and that's what gets his name down as one of the first on the squad selection sheet from match to match.

The boys all ran their hearts out for us today but we simply were not as good as either Saxons or Flyers and our win came against a very young Bears team; added to that we had two over-age players playing!

However, on the positive side, that's more games under their collective belts and and much to work with for the coaching staff.

After last week's great win away at Bournville Bears in the regular league schedule it was another trip up the M5 to Birmingham and this time to the rather plush surroundings of Sandwell Academy, opposite The Hawthorns, home of West Bromwich Albion FC.WBA D-Squad Basketball Club are part of the WBA Foundation and run a number of teams at in the YBL and at the higher National League level. And so WBA had a 12-man squad with just two U15s, a couple of U13s and the remainder all U14 in age.

Josh Spriggs won the tip-off and Leadonites were soon in front through a deuce from team captain Michael French. WBA came straight back with a 3-pointer to take the lead and that proved to be their only lead of the match as JJ Hobson replied with a 3-pointer of his own. From their on the strength and height superiority paid dividends over and over for Leadonites as the offensive presence of Spriggs and the defensive power of Teo Calvo-Whitelegg pushed the Ledbury club on to a 15-12 end of quarter lead.With Alessio Miccio and Finlay Chalkley joining Spriggs, Hobson and French on the second quarter score sheet Leadonites were 29-19 ahead at the half-time break.WBA came out in the second half with renewed purposed and set about cutting into the Herefordshire club's lead so much so that Leadonites coach, Ian Robb felt forced into calling a time-out to stem the Black Country club's flow of play. The ploy worked and though the quarter was lost WBA were only able to pull back one point from the deficit with the three-quarter time score at 32-41 to Leadonites.A similar time-out from coach Robb in the fourth quarter put the boys back on track regarding offensive ball movement and a basket from French ( 6 pts), two-apiece from Hobson (15 pts) and Calvo-Whitelegg (6 pts) and three more from Spriggs, on his way to a game high 20-points saw the Leadonites home despite a late 3-pointer from WBA's Clarke.

This was a good win for the boys against a young but well drilled and motivated West Bromwich Albion team. That's 4 wins out of 5 matches for this season from the U15s so far this season. Last season's U14s only won 3 games throughout the 2016/17 season in total!

Sunday, 15 October 2017

We have received this email (see below) regarding this year's selection and training for the West Midlands Regional Representative Teams.

Please note that the first two dates are try out dates and all subsequent dates are by invitation only. Also, good parental support (financially and logistically) is required for any player to undertake this.

Finally, this is open to any player registered to Leadonites Basketball born in the years 2003, 2004 and 2005. It does not require any recommendation by a Leadonites coach for a player to go and try-out.

My name is Paul Douglas, but you may know me as “Dougie” and I’m the West Midlands Performance Coaching Coordinator.

The West Midlands is going through a transitional period with a new Coaching staff to be appointed; so in the interim, I will be covering the sessions until they are appointed.

I am looking for coaching staff for both the girls' and boys’ programmes so if you would like to be considered or have any suggestions then please contact me. I am currently speaking to and potential Head Coach for the boys’ programme and I’m hoping to announce that very soon.

The RPC is for boys and girls born 2003, 2004 & 2005 and the cost is £10 per player. Each player is to bring a packed lunch, water and a basketball as the region does not hold any. If you think any of your players will have any issues with attending this Sunday please let me know.

This session is to determine which players are at the required RPC standard and as I am fully aware that this is short notice for some I am extending this trial period to the next session on 12th November.

I am also very keen for the RPC sessions to be hosted by clubs in the region so if any clubs would like to host one please contact me ASAP to arrange it.

The RPC dates are as follows:

12th November
10th December
7th January
11th February
11th March
15th April
20th May

In addition; if any coaches are interested in applying for coaching positions for the West Midlands Regional U13, 15 & 17 squads for both girls and boys please register your interest by emailing me.

My email address is allcitybasketball@me.com if you would like to contact me.

Again, I apologise for the short notice and I assure you that if your player/child cannot attend this RPC they will be considered for the next one in November.

I am very keen to get all clubs involved in the development of players and coaches in the West Midlands so please feel free to contact me with any ideas or suggestions.

For YBL matches we are able to take as many as 12 players
to a match but this is simply too difficult to administer on the day and still
remain fair to all those present with regard to equality of playing time; so the
match day squad will be capped at 10
players. There will still be playing opportunities in CVLs and friendlies for
those that do not make it into the YBL team.

Some of you will be aware of how the selection process,
both for the match day squad and with regard to the game time minutes played by
each player has evolved with our Under 15s team. The Under 15s team are this
season’s ‘Focus’ team for the whole club. In essence this means that their
coach, Ian Robb, and his Assistant, Rich Davis, have been given the task of
producing a team that has a winning record (more wins than defeats) by the end
of the season. The same will not be true for the Under 13s team, where winning
is desirable but not at the expense of player and team development.

Initially the YBL U13s team will be very close in its make
up to that of the U12s CVL team from last season but this will change as the
season progresses. There will be a core of players who are selected for every
game with the remaining squad places shared out amongst the others within that
age category. The sharing out of the remaining squad places is not only to give
each player a taste of playing at a higher level than a friendly or CVL match but
also because of the competition rules regarding the post season play-offs. Were
the Under 13s to make it to the play-offs – and before a ball has even been
tipped we have to believe that there is a reasonable chance of that – only players
who have played in a regular season match are eligible to play in post season
play-off matches.

Also unlike the Under 15s for the ten players that are
selected the policy of as close to equal game time will continue. However, if a
regular season game goes into overtime then the focus will be upon winning that
match rather than each player being given equal share of the overtime minutes
available. The real difference will be if the team do qualify for the post
season play-offs; this will be between two and four extra matches and we will
switch into the mode of trying to win each game we play as a priority over that
of equal game time for each player, but let’s cross that bridge if (hopefully) we
come to it.

As a club head coach I am asking all parents of players
eligible to play for Leadonites Under 13s in the YBL to manage your child’s expectations
with regard to participation in that competition. If you feel that it will be
too upsetting for you child not getting initially selected or, later on in the
season, losing their place to someone else, then I am asking you now to tell me
that they are NOT to be considered for selection in the first place.

Thursday, 12 October 2017

It will be a busy end of October with three match dates involving the Inters players. First up will be the U15 YBL team who travel to play West Bromwich Albion D-Squad next to their Premiership football club's Hawthorns home ground. WBA D-Squad are part of WBA FC's sports foundation and they run teams in the National League and in the YBL.

The Under 16 CVL squad will travel across the Malvern Hills to play in a triangular CVT hosted by Worcester Bears and where they will also play Shrewsbury Storm U16s. The two matches are each scheduled to be 4x 7-minute game clock matches.

SATURDAY - 28th October 2017

Tip-off is to be confirmed but the first match of the day is at 10:00am

The Under 14s CVL team will ravel to play an as yet indeterminate number of short duration matches as part of Gloucestershire College's Glozball CVL. The team has lost Rufus Waghorn after the year 9 player needed emergency surgery on a burst appendix! Rufus will be out of action for 8-weeks; get well soon, Rufus. For the four remaining year 8 players this will be their first competitive matches in a Leadonites jersey.

Wednesday, 11 October 2017

In making his debut for the Under 12s against Gloucester Saxons U13 at Glozball on Sunday Edward Stunt became only the third year 5 player to play for Leadonites.

But at 9 years 8 months and 13 days he was over two months older than Leadonites' youngest ever player, Archie Allcock who took to the court against Worcester Wolves Cubs on 14th November 2015 aged 9 years 6 months and 3 days old.

Leadonites' only other year 5 player was Fraser Renfrew-Clarke who, at 9 years 8 months and 13 days old, made his debut for the club against Gloucester Blazers (the forerunner club to Saxons) on the 12th March 2016.

To complete the circle, Fraser was the Under 12s captain in Edwards first game for the club.

MATCH RESULTS:>>>>>><><<<<<<08/10/2017 - Glozball U12s CVL- Gloucester Saxons U13 26 Vs 6 Leadonites- Leadonites 2 Vs 24 Worcester Bears- Leadonites 16 Vs 6 Bristol Flyers Girls- Leadonites 12 Vs 16 Stroud Sharks---------------------------------------------------------Forget the results as this was an excellent start for this season's U12s team with three year 7 players missing, six players making their debut and for five of them it was their first ever matches.Predictably heavy defeats against Saxons and Bears followed by a surprise win over Flyers Girls but the best performance was left until last when the boys fought back with a late charge but ultimately ran out of time to complete the comeback.Coaches Rudge and Chalkley were very pleased with the efforts and attitude of all ten boys and the Haribo was were earned.

After last week’s
disappointing home defeat to Spartans, Leadonites Basketball travelled to Dame
Elizabeth Cadbury College to play Bournville Bears in what turned out to be a
thrilling match to watch. The lead swapped sides eight times before the Ledbury
boys finally pushed their noses ahead with 90 seconds of the last quarter left
to play.

In the only two previous
matches between these two clubs, both friendlies, the bears had won out
convincingly with the last encounter finishing 79-21 to the Birmingham club.

Star of the match for
Bourneville was Stove who hit a game high 40 points that started with a
3-pointer in the second minute of the match. A free-throw from Teo
Calvo-Whitelegg got the Leadonites underway before he scored again with a
lay-up to equal the scores. Further scores from George Robb and JJ Hobson gave
Leadonites their first lead of the match. Sam Nicholls extended the lead in the
seventh minute with Hobson and Michael French also scoring. But more baskets
from Miller, getting tagged for his third foul of the quarter, and Stove again left
the end of quarter scores level at 13-apiece.

Bournville opened the second
quarter scoring as they had the first when Antrobes dropped a 3-pointer in the
opening minute before Stove stretched their lead out further with another two.
Hobson missed his four free-throw of the match before Josh Spriggs caught the
rebound and scored his first points of the match. Stove reasserted Bears’ lead
to 20-15 before a mini scoring spree from Leadonites with baskets from Spriggs,
French, Alessio Miccio and a Calvo-Whitelegg single gave them a slender lead. The two sides traded baskets but with
Leadonites easing ahead through a combination of the defensive work under the
hoop of Ethan Wheeler, Spriggs and Calvo-Whitelegg and scores from Robb, Spriggs
and Calvo-Whitelegg before Spriggs finished the first half with a flurry of
three close range scores to give the away team a half-time lead of 33-28.

Six third quarter baskets
from Spriggs, aided with scores from Hobson (3pts) and Calvo-Whitelegg were enough
to hold onto the lead despite being outscored 19-17 in the period to finish the
third 50 points to the host’s 47.

Spriggs limped out of the
match with a suspected dead-leg early in the fourth and Bears took advantage as
they overtook scores from Joseph Fisher and Hobson to snatch back the lead in
the third minute and then proceeded to run up a 58 to 54 lead by the end of the
fourth minute. A score from Robb stemmed the flow and Spriggs was able to
re-join the fray in the fifth minute and scored soon after. A free throw and a
two from Calvo-Whitelegg plus another free-throw from Hobson got Leadonites
level at 62-all.

With one of their main
re-bounders off the court hurt disaster struck when Miller fouled out of the
match with three minutes to play. Despite this set-back Bears forged out to a
four-point lead with just two minutes left on the game-clock. Two quick-fire
close range baskets from Spriggs and another two from Hobson regained the lead
for Leadonites with one minute left to play. A converted free-throw from
Calvo-Whitelegg were iced when team captain French rebounded two late missed
free-throws to score on each and despite a last ditch score from Stove with
only seconds to go the Herefordshire club chalked up their third win out of
four for the season.

NOTE: The car park at the College is no longer free to park when attending basketball. It is about £2.00 to park. There is a park and ride car park just off Castlemeads Way but this is also £2.00 to park.

SQUAD

- Lorenzo Ashton (47386)

- Zach Brereton-Burgess (47253)

- Henry Flanagan (47387)
- Alex Gurney-Long (47396)

- AJ Hammond (47267)

- Joseph Pugh (47278) Awaiting confirmation

- Fraser Renfrew-Clarke (47279)

- Ben Richards (47388) - Will be late but will already have name on score-sheet.

- Jake Robb (47328)

- Thomas Rudge (47282)

- Edward Stunt (dependant upon receipt of BE Reg number before Saturday)

Coach: Duncan Rudge (47295)
Assistant Coach: Matthew Chalkley (47290)

Leadonites take a very inexperienced team to the first Glozball CVL of the season with no fewer than 7 of the squad of 10 playing their first match.

"VOLUNTEERS aren't paid - not because they are worthless, but because they are priceless."

Sherry Anderson

Leadonites Basketball is a small club but it still takes a lot of time and effort to run and we are therefore always on the lookout for volunteer help.

So if you are a qualified coach or table official and want to get involved then please get in touch. If you are not currently qualified but willing to undertake training courses and are willing to commit your time to us then Leadonites will pay the relevant course fees.

We also need help in a number of other ways.

leadonitesbasketball@gmail.com

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